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Harry Bethel was born and reared in Georgia. Jesus has called Harry and given to him the great privilege to counsel and minister to Christians in all walks of life. Visit Harry’s Website

Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Do Birthdays Have Pagan Origins?

Although many who profess Christ celebrate birthdays, did you know that birthdays were simply not celebrated by those in the early church? Interestingly, there is no hint in the Bible or early writings that Jesus, the apostles, or any true Christians ever celebrated birthdays.

This article will begin with an introduction on the origin of birthdays, discuss some ancient and modern Judaic views of birthdays, discuss the Bible and early Gentile views of birthdays, and discuss how birthdays became to be celebrated amongst those that profess Christianity.

Early Origins of Birthdays

So what is the origin of birthdays? Where did the idea of birthdays celebrations come from?

“Originally the idea [of birthday greetings and wishes for happiness] was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one’s personal spirits are about at that time. Dreams dreamed on the birthday eve should be remembered, for they are predictions of the future brought by the guardian spirits which hover over one’s bed on the birthday eve. Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day. Good wishes bring good fortune, but the reverse is also true, so one should avoid enemies on one’s birthday and be surrounded only by well-wishers. ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Many happy returns of the day’ are the traditional greetings” (The Lore of Birthdays, Linton, p. 20)…

The giving of birthday gifts is a custom associated with the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods on their birthdays. Certainly the custom was linked with the same superstitions that formed the background for birthday greetings. “The exchange of presents… is associated with the importance of ingratiating good and evil fairies… on their or our birthdays” (ibid.).

The traditional birthday cake and candles also have their origin in ancient pagan idol worship. The ancients believed that the fire of candles had magical properties. They offered prayers and made wishes to be carried to the gods on the flames of the candles. Thus we still have the widely practiced birthday custom of making a wish, then blowing out the candles. The Greeks celebrated the birthday of their moon goddess, Artemis, with cakes adorned with lighted candles…

“The Egyptians… discovered to which of the gods each month and day is sacred; and found out from the day of a man’s birth, what he will meet with in the course of his life, and how he will end his days, and what sort of man he will be” (Herodotus, Persian Wars, Book II, ch. 82)

Since it was believed that the positions of the stars at the time of birth influenced a child’s future, astrological horoscopes came into being, purporting to foretell the future, based on the time of birth. “Birthdays are intimately linked with the stars, since without the calendar, no one could tell when to celebrate his birthday. They are also indebted to the stars in another way, for in early days the chief importance of birthday records was to enable the astrologers to chart horoscopes” (The Lore of Birthdays, p. 53). Rawlinson’s translation of Herodotus includes the following footnote: “Horoscopes were of very early use in Egypt… and Cicero speaks of the Egyptians and Chaldees predicting… a man’s destiny at his birth”…

When we examine the principles of God’s law closely, as they relate to birthday celebrations, we can understand why neither Christ, nor His Apostles, nor their true followers, observed their birthdays. As noted earlier, the practice has its origin in idolatry and the worship of the sun, moon and stars…Some may view birthday customs as purely secular, lacking any religious significance. Yet we need to be aware of the broader perspective of their origins, and the religious significance they have had—and still have—for vast multitudes of people. (Reynolds, Rod. Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Living Church News, May-June 2002. pp.16-18).

Furthermore, the book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say:

The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune…

Thus it appears that birthdays had their origin in mythology and magic, with horoscopes also probably playing a role.

Jews, Jewish Christians, and Old Testament Birthdays

But what were early Jewish practices?

The first century Jewish historian Josephus noted that Jewish families did not celebrate birthdays:

Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess (Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston. Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing, 1977, p. 632).

Now although there is no specific command against the celebration of birthdays in the Bible, the Jewish custom in those days was apparently based on the negative occurrences in the Bible surrounding birthdays, as well as the astrological implications of the celebration of birthdays (pagan practices, like astrology, were specifically prohibited in the law).

Since nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus’ birth would not be consistent with that early custom.

Notice two reports that would seem to support that:

“There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their birthdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s birth.”

The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very “Jewish” custom.

…as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. (Your Jewish Birthday. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.

In their essay titled “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic:

“The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”

Notice what the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies reported:

The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).

The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil.

Here are some passages in the Old Testament that the Jews tended to looked at in order to come to their conclusion about birthdays:

Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:

“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it (Job 3:1-5).

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away–indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”…If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression (Job 1:13-15; 8:4).

Although, I have heard some say that the “day” referred to in Job 1:13 was a birthday celebration, the passage in Job is not explicit and Job himself indicates he was more concerned with what his sons might have said, than done, in their other celebrations (Job 1:4-5). However, it should be noted that there are no positive statements in the Old Testament related to birthdays.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote:

14 Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me! 15 Let the man be cursed Who brought news to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you!” Making him very glad. 16 And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning And the shouting at noon, 17 Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me. 18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, That my days should be consumed with shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)

The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one’s “birthday” on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year–and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one’s alleged “sign” would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible to for the “birthday” to fall on the same solar calendar day each year–instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.

It may also be that one of the reasons for circumcising males at eight days (see Genesis 17:12), as opposed to the day of birth (which is what tends to often happen in modern societies who circumcise), would be to change the emphasis from the date of birth to other events as important.

Of course, it should be noted that since the ages of many people in the Hebrew Bible are recorded, some type of acknowledgement of when people were born apparently did take place.

Acknowledgement of years to some degree had to take place as the Old Testament categorizes various people at various times based upon age (e.g. Leviticus 27:3-7; Numbers 4:2-3). But there is no recorded example of the Hebrews actually celebrating their dates of birth.

If you search the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than perhaps He would have given specific birth dates in the Bible–but He did not.

Modern Judaism and Birthdays

While many modern rabbis still do not endorse the celebration of birthdays, some do. However, it appears that some believe that there is stronger support in both their traditions and writings to not celebrate them.

Notice the following from a Jewish writer:

In Jewish theology, much importance is attached to the day upon which one dies, one’s yahrtzeit, but little is mentioned about one’s birthday. Some Torah authorities, such as the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoelish Teitelbaum (1887-1979)[1] are opposed to any sort of celebration of one’s birthday, while other authorities, such as the Lubavitcher Rebbe[2], Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994)[3] and the Rebbe from Piaczezna, Rabbi Kalonymos Kalman Shapiro[4], permit and encourage such celebration on one’s birthday as means of inspiring self-reflection and introspection[5]. Rabbi Matis Blum explains[6] that the rationale of those who oppose birthday celebrations is based on a statement of King Solomon, who said, “A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death [is better] than the day of birth.[7]” He also explains this opposition is seemingly supported by the Talmud which determined[8] that it is better than man not have been born than man having been born. A third reason for opposing birthday parities is simply the fact that the Torah only mentioned such a party in conjunction with the Pharaoh celebrating his own birthday. This implies that only such morally degenerated people as the sovereign of Egypt would celebrate a birthday, but not Torah True Jews…

Cursing one’s birthday is an expression of one’s dissatisfaction in one’s situation. The Midrash says[41] that two people cursed the day on which they born. Job cursed the day he was born[42] as a reaction to all the suffering to which he was subjected. Jeremiah also cursed the day of his birth[43] as a means of conveying the message of his bitterness in having to foretell the destruction of the Holy Temple, and worse, his knowing that prophecy was destined to be fulfilled. (Happy Birthday! Reb Chaim HaQoton, April 17, 2007 – verified 7/12/07).

Thus, many Jewish leaders have acknowledged that the celebration of birthdays was not something that was historically endorsed (though many Jews do celebrate them in modern times).

Did the Magi Give Presents on the Day of Jesus’ Birth?

But some have felt, basically by seeing certain alleged manger scenes, that the Magi/wise men came from the East and gave Jesus presents on the day of His birth.

Well, there are a few issues with this.

First, the wise men definitely were not with Jesus on the day of His birth. The Bible is clear that He had already been born:

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. (Matthew 2:1-2)

Furthermore, notice that they came to worship Him, not celebrate His birthday. It was customary in those times (and still is today) to provide gifts when meeting royalty. Thus, the wise men meeting Jesus and providing presents should not be construed as a birthday celebration.

There is a variety of speculation about who the wise men were, but one that makes the most sense is that they were among the part of Israel. The Apostle James wrote to the “tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1). The first century Jewish historian Josephus stated that some of the tribes of Israel were “beyond Euphrates” (Josephus. Wars of the Jews, Chapter 2. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing), which is East of Jerusalem.

Another reason to believe that the wise men were of Israeli origin is that they may have had access to at least part of the Hebrew Bible and likely responded because of verses such as the following:

17… A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).

And since the wise men may have been of Israelite origin, they like the Jews, may not have had a tradition of celebrating birthdays.

Gentiles and Birthdays in the New Testament

But the focus of this article is early Christianity–which while it certainly includes the fact that Jews, including Christian ones, did not celebrate birthdays in the first and second centuries A.D. What were the practices of the non-Jewish (Gentiles) converts to Christianity?

But before getting to later Gentile practices, first perhaps we should look at the teachings of the New Testament itself.

It is interesting to note that while the New Testament is clear about the specific time of certain holy days such as Passover (Matthew 26:17-20) and Pentecost (Acts 2:1), it never mentions the date, nor even the precise month, of Jesus’ birth (see Matthew 1 and Luke 1;2:1-20). Nor does it ever specifically endorse the celebration of birthdays. Not does it ever give the date (with either a solar or lunar calendar reference) for any one being born.

There is, however, one birthday celebration mentioned in the New Testament, and it was not a good one. Actually, it was so bad, that the one Jesus had called the greatest “among those born of women” (Matthew 11:11) was killed because of it:

But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother (Matthew 14:6-11).

(The same account is also described in Mark 6:21-28).

Originally, even as more and more Gentiles began to profess Christ (so much so that they outnumbered those of Jewish heritage that did), the early Gentile leaders also did not endorse the celebration of birthdays. No early church writer endorsed the observance of birthdays by Christians, nor are they ever listed in the early observances of the Christian church.

Therefore, the celebration of birthdays, was clearly not part of:

… the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

No early religious/church writing from the second century that I have seen (and I have read most that are available) seems to endorse (or even suggest) the celebration of birthdays by any who professed Christ.

Although he was not part of the Church of God, the writings of the early third century Catholic theologian Origen of Alexandria show that, even that late, Orthodox Catholics were against the celebration of birthdays. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:

Thus birthday celebrations, even of gods and leaders, were condemned as far as the late third century by even Roman Catholic leaders.

How Birthdays Ended Up Being Observed

It does not seem that the celebration of birthdays became common among those that professed Christ until the fourth century. During that century, infant baptism started to become customary and the celebration of Christmas became standard practices for the majority that professed Christ. Also, the fact that Roman emperors tended to celebrate their birthdays was undoubtedly another factor as it was in the fourth century that Roman emperors began to accept some form of Christianity.

Wikipedia notes:

History of celebration of birthdays in the West It is thought that the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers throughout the Roman Empire. Before this, such celebrations were not common; and, hence, practices from other contexts such as the Saturnalia were adapted for birthdays. Because many Roman soldiers took to Mithraism, it had a wide distribution and influence throughout the empire until it was supplanted by Christianity (Wikipedia. Birthdays. July 12, 2007 version).

Christmas is also relevant because December 25th was the day of celebration of the birthday of the sun-god Mithra. Perhaps it should also be mentioned that one of the key features of Mithraism was Sunday observance. The reason that this seems to be relevant is that the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to make a profession of Christ, was also the first Emperor to make Sunday laws–which he began to do on March 7, 321. Also, a few years later, the Council of Nicea that Constantine convened in 325 A.D. declared Sunday to be the “Christian day” of worship (for more information, please see the article Europa and the Book of Revelation).

According to the fourth century historian Epiphanius, some who observed Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, claimed that Emperor Constantine mandated a Sunday observance of it in the Council of Nicea in 325 in order to somehow honor his birthday:

Christmas…In 354 A.D., Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to celebrate on December 25. He probably chose this date because the people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun (Sechrist E.H. Christmas. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1966, pp. 408-417).

Hence, it would seem to follow that since those who professed Christ as late as the third century did not celebrate birthdays, that it was not after a Roman Emperor implemented Sunday, that perhaps he and others were amenable to adopting other practices of Mithraism–one of which was birthday celebrations. This is apparently how birthdays became to be celebrated amongst those that professed Christianity. A celebration for the date of Jesus’ birth in Rome probably began near this time, but was mandated no later than 354 A.D.

Thus it appears that the “birthday of the sun” festivities were a major factor in the date chosen for followers of Greco-Roman Christianity to celebrate. And once those that professed Christ began to widely celebrate that “birthday”, other birthday celebrations became more common.

The Satanic Bible and Birthdays

Back in 1969 Anton Lavey wrote The Satanic Bible.

On page 96 on the 1976 version, it mentions birthdays:

THE highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birth. This is in direct contradiction to the holy of holy days of other religions, which deify a particular god who has been created in an anthropomorphic form of their own image, thereby showing that the ego is not really buried.

The Satanist feels: “Why not really be honest and if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself.” Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year. After all, aren’t you happier about the fact that you were born than you are about the birth of someone you have never even met? Or for that matter, aside from religious holidays, why pay higher tribute to the birthday of a president or to a date in history than we do to the day we were brought into this greatest of all worlds?

Despite the fact that some of us may not have been wanted, or at least were not particularly planned, we’re glad, even if no one else is, that we’re here! You should give yourself a pat on the back, buy yourself whatever you want, treat yourself like the king (or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp and ceremony as possible.

After one’s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht and Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve).

(Lavey A, Gilmore P. The Satanic Bible. Avon, September 1, 1976, p. 96–note it is on page 53 of an online version I found also).

It is interesting that birthdays are considered the most important holiday to these Satan worshipers (the founding of their “church” (Walpurgisnacht) and Halloween are the other ones of importance to them). This comes as no surprise.

Comments from the Living Church News

The May-June edition of the Living Church News had an article titled Birthdays and God’s Church by Rod McNair, that states:

Should Christians celebrate birthdays? What does the Church teach on this topic? What does your Bible say? It is a fact of life that everyone grows older, and on one day a year we are considered a year older than the day before. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the passage of time, as another year of life goes by. We know, for example, that Moses certainly knew his birthdate…

Moses simply acknowledged his age. By contrast, many in the world today have grown used to the idea that their day of birth is an occasion on which friends, family members and coworkers are expected to lavish them with attention, gifts and revelry. What can we learn from Scripture about observing birthdays? Jesus Christ did not mark the anniversary of His birth, nor did He make reference to it in any such fashion. Nor did any of the Apostles so much as even mention Christ’s birth date or their own…

Does the book of Job indicate that Job’s sons observed their birthdays? Some point to this verse to support that idea: “And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day” (Job 1:4). Is “his appointed day” a vague reference to a birthday? Scripture does not say. However, we should also note that, if this is a “birthday” example, it is not entirely positive regarding the idea of birthday celebrations— we see that Job offered sacrifi ces afterward, on the assumption that his sons may have “sinned and cursed God in their hearts” while feasting (v. 5)…

But even some casual observers have noticed that the early Church taught against participation in such birthday celebrations as are so common in our world today. As writer Norm Schneider points out: “During the Christian era, the early followers of Christ didn’t believe in celebrating birthdays, preferring—as was the case in earlier eras—of honoring one’s death. Their belief was that only in death was there true deliverance worthy of honoring one’s ‘death day’ [a reference to Ecclesiastes 7:1, where Solomon asserts that the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth]. They also believed that Egyptian and Greek birthday celebrations were pagan festivals and should not be duplicated” (“The Strange Origins of Our Modern Birthday Customs,” August 13, 2008, http://www.associatedcontent.com).

Schneider goes on to observe that by “the fourth century, Christians—having generally agreed on the date of Christ’s birth—began celebrating the event, ergo Christmas.” Indeed, the observance of Christmas and the celebration of birthdays went hand in hand as the vast majority of professing Christians fell into apostasy. Today, billions of people who call themselves “Christians” are keeping Christmas to have, in effect, a sort of “birthday party for Christ.” However, when we read what Scripture tells us about the young Jesus Christ, we find no precedent for such celebration. What do we find? When they saw the young Jesus, the wise men from the East “fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). This was a momentous event, but it was not a birthday party—these were prominent men coming to visit the King. The custom of bringing a gift when coming before a king is still in practice today…

Accordingly, God does not want His people to become involved in worldly practices that lead to the destruction of character. Worldly birthday festivities, under the guise of a “party spirit,” are often focused on greed—the desire for gifts and attention—as well as on vanity, selfishness and a wrong spirit of competition. Such attitudes are inappropriate for Christians as part of any celebration, not just birthday celebrations! God makes it plain that Christians are not to take part in “lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries” (1 Peter 4:3). We know from Scripture that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5)…

A balanced perspective on this issue can be found in an example cited by our Presiding Evangelist, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith…Dr. Meredith mentioned in his July 21, 2008 sermon, titled “Building Faith and Courage,” that he had just turned 78 years of age, but without a birthday party. On the other hand, as noted above, he has acknowledged that it can indeed be appropriate for families to acknowledge a child’s growth and development on a birth date, just as it can be worthwhile to honor an elderly person at a milestone in his or her life—in a Christian spirit of true love and respect, without getting caught up in the spirit of carnal celebrations that often go far beyond what is appropriate.

The most faithful in the Church of God believe that acknowledgement of aging is appropriate, but birthday parties are not.

Concluding Comments

Although birthdays were to some degree acknowledged, the celebration of birthdays was not something that original Christians did and should not be done by true Christians today. Nor did Jews anciently celebrate birthdays. Nor does the Bible ever give the precise date with either a lunar or solar calendar of any persons’ birth.

Birthdays apparently originated in magic and mythology. They were traditionally also celebrated by followers of Mithra.

In the fourth century, after a sun-worshipping emperor made a profession towards Christ and passed the first Sunday law, he and/or apparently his followers probably did not consider that there were problems with celebratory aspects of Mithraism/Saturnalia as long as Christ and believers, and not Mithra, were the focus of celebrations.

But should we be following the example of the Romans who mixed practices of Mithraism into their religion or of those who first accepted Christ? Recall that Christians are advised to:

…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, …

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lordyour God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, …

The Door to the Way of God

John 10:9

9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Literal Meaning: Door

Symbolic Meaning: Knowledge, Way, Birth and Death

Ezekiel 41:2

King James Version (KJV)

2 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.

John 10:1-10

King James Version (KJV)

10 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

The name of the Fourth Hebrew Letter is delet, the Hebrew word for a DOOR

There are two possibilities for the original Early Semitic pictograph for this letter – , a picture of a fish and , a picture of a door. The modern Hebrew name for this letter is “dalet” and means “door”. The word “dalet” is a derivative of the parent root “dal” also meaning “door”. The Arabic name for this letter is “dal” giving support to the parent root as the original name. As the Hebrew word for a “fish” is dag, it is unlikely that the pictograph is the pictograph for this letter but, rather the pictograph .

The basic meaning of the letter is “door” but has several other meanings associated with it. It can mean “a back and forth movement” as one goes back and forth through the tent through the door. It can mean “dangle” as the tent door dangled down from a roof pole of the tent. It can also mean weak or poor as one who dangles the head down.

The sound for this letter is a “d” as in “door” as it is with the Greek and Arabic equivalents.

The Early Semitic pictograph evolved into the Middle Semitic letter . The Middle Semitic then evolved into the Late Semitic letter , the early form of the Modern Hebrew ד. The Middle Semitic letter is the origin of the Greek letter D, The Roman D and the number 4.

The Body Codes with Chuck Thurston, a teaching on the human body and how the organs of our bodies correspond to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Dr. Thurston’s goal is to provide believers with scientific evidence that re-establishes the Bible as completely true and authentic. He also focus on the many infallible proofs that may persuade honest seekers of truth that the Bible is what they have been looking for, and is a scientific reality in ways they could never have imagined. In his brilliantly composed book is a well-balanced meal of spiritual vitamins and minerals, bringing nourishment and new life to your thirsty and hungry soul. It was inspired by his deep love and holy respect for the Word of God. The mini lesson below should help you understand one of many reasons why Dr. Thurston has a passion for the Holy Scriptures.

The Hebrew Aleph-Bet comprises twenty-two letters. This equates to the astonishing fact that the human body also is designated with twenty-two amino acids, all of which are vital to a healthy and productive life on earth. The biblical Hebrew text, which uses those twenty-two letters, is precisely written with a uniquely interwoven mathematical system; yet it retains a poetical and musical sound as you listen to a fluent speaker of the language. Its message is consistent throughout, as it invites the reader to linger at the Master’s buffet table of spiritual insights, eating and digesting soul-satisfying thoughts of eternal life.

Finally, I encourage you, dear reader, to consume this wonderful, spiritual food with an attitude of open-mindedness and a hungry, searching heart. So, let us sit down together at the Master’s table, relax, and sip our Aleph-Bet Soup. It is for you, because it is just what the doctor ordered!
In Psalm 34:8, the Lord admonishes us to taste of Him. “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” – Yacov Rambsel

Discovery

The first seven Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by chance in 1947 by Bedouin of the Ta’amra tribe, in a cave (later given the name “Cave 1”) near Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Three of the scrolls were immediately purchased by archaeologist Eliezer Lipa Sukenik on behalf of the Hebrew University; the others were bought by the Metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Mar Athanasius Samuel. In 1948 Samuel smuggled the four scrolls in his possession to the United States; it was only in 1954 that Sukenik’s son, Yigael Yadin, also an archaeologist, was able to return them to Israel, and they were ultimately entrusted to the Shrine of the Book Foundation. They have been on display in the Shrine of the Book at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, since 1965.

Over the next few years, from 1949 to 1956, additional fragments of some 950 different scrolls were discovered in ten nearby caves, both by Bedouins and by a joint archaeological expedition of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française and the Rockefeller Museum, under the direction of Professor Father Roland de Vaux. The richest yield, from Cave 4, just opposite the site of Qumran, consisted of some 15,000 fragments. The last cave, Cave 11, was discovered in 1956, and the scrolls found there were in a reasonable state of preservation. Since then, only a few small scraps of parchment have been found in the Judean Desert (though not in the close vicinity of Qumran).

Apart from the first seven scrolls, which are entrusted to the Israel Museum, the majority of the fragments found by archaeologists and Bedouin are property of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Others are in the possession of institutions outside of Israel, such as the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, or in private hands (the Schøyen Collection, Norway).

The Great Isaiah Scroll

The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. It is the largest (734 cm) and best preserved of all the biblical scrolls, and the only one that is almost complete. The 54 columns contain all 66 chapters of the Hebrew version of the biblical Book of Isaiah. Dating from ca. 125 BCE, it is also one of the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some one thousand years older than the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible known to us before the scrolls’ discovery.

The version of the text is generally in agreement with the Masoretic or traditional version codified in medieval codices, such as the Aleppo Codex, but it contains many variant readings, alternative spellings, scribal errors, and corrections. Unlike most of the biblical scrolls from Qumran, it exhibits a very full orthography (spelling), revealing how Hebrew was pronounced in the Second Temple Period. Around twenty additional copies of the Book of Isaiah were also found at Qumran (one more copy was discovered further south at Wadi Muraba’at), as well as six pesharim (commentaries) based on the book; Isaiah is also frequently quoted in other scrolls (a literary and religious phenomenon also present in New Testament writings). The authoritative and scriptural status of the Book of Isaiah is consistent with the messianic beliefs of the community living at Qumran, since Isaiah is known for his prophecies of judgment and consolation, and his visions of the End of Days and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The War Scroll

The War Scroll (1QM), popularly known as “The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness,” is one of the seven original Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. It contains 19 columns (originally there were at least twenty), of which the first 14–19 lines (out of at least 21–22) are preserved. The work is written in Hebrew in a square Herodian script and is dated to the late first century BCE or early first century CE. Seven additional fragments (4Q491-497) with similar contents have also been found, but the relationship between these texts to 1QM is not entirely clear; they may represent an earlier version of the War Scroll, or source materials on which the War Scroll was based.

Against the backdrop of a long biblical tradition concerning a final war at the End of Days (Ezekiel 38–39; Daniel 7–12), this scroll describes a seven stage, dualistic confrontation between the “Sons of Light” (the term used by Community members to refer to themselves), under the leadership of the “Prince of Light” (also called Michael, the Archangel) – and the “Sons of Darkness” (a nickname for the enemies of the Community, Jews and non-Jews alike), aided by a nation called the Kittim (Romans?), headed by Belial. The confrontation would last 49 years, terminating in the victory of the “Sons of Light” and the restoration of the Temple service and sacrifices. The War Scroll describes battle arrays, weaponry, the ages of the participants, and military maneuvers, recalling Hellenistic and Roman military manuals.

This work is not, strictly speaking, an apocalypse (namely, a heavenly revelation), and it lacks a “messianic” figure. Certain details, such as the advanced age of the combatants and the leadership of the priests, point to the idealistic nature of the war described in the work and impart a fictional quality to the treatise. Nonetheless, the War Scroll may indeed reflect genuine political tension in Judea between Romans and Jews, which would culminate in the outbreak of revolt in 66 CE. The scroll also sheds light on the New Testament Book of Revelation, in which a final war is also described between earthly and heavenly forces.

The Temple Scroll

The Temple Scrolla (11Q19) was almost certainly discovered in 1956 in Cave 11, located about two kilometers north of Khirbet Qumran. The manuscript is written in Hebrew in the square Herodian script of the late Second Temple Period (the first half of the first century CE), on extremely thin animal skin (one-tenth of a millimeter), making it the thinnest parchment scroll ever found in the caves of Qumran. Two other copies of the same composition have also come to light: one in Cave 11 (Temple Scrollb [11Q20]), and another (possibly a fragmentary copy of the last part of the work) in Cave 4 (4QTemple Scrollb [4Q524]). Most scholars believe that all three manuscripts are copies of an original work composed in the Land of Israel in the second half of the second century BCE (after 120 BCE, perhaps during the rule of John Hyrcanus I).

The Temple Scrolla consists of 18 sheets of parchment, each of which has three or four columns of text. The scroll’s total length is 8.146 meters; it is thus the largest scroll ever discovered in the Qumran caves. Its second half – the inner portion of the scroll – is better preserved than the first.

The work claims to provide the details of God’s instructions (to Moses?) in regard to the construction and operation of the Temple. It was evidently supposed to be a kind of “new Book of Moses,” which systematically combines the laws of the Temple and the sacrifices (mainly from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers) with a new version of these laws as articulated in Deuteronomy chapters 12–23.

The Temple compound, as described in the scroll, was to be arranged in three concentric square courts, meant to resemble the camp of the Israelites in the desert. Just as the Tabernacle stood at the center of the Israelite camp, so too the utopian Temple was to stand at the center of the inner court, with the altar for burnt offerings and other objects near it, radiating its holiness to the whole of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel, as the Tabernacle did in the time of the Israelites’ wandering in the desert.

A central question relates to the social provenance of this work: While the scroll shares many features in common with the other sectarian works discovered in the caves near Qumran, several representative expressions, such as the phrase “Sons of Light,” and concepts, such as the belief in predestination, are lacking. Many scholars still attribute the Temple Scroll to the isolated community living at Qumran. But others reject any connection with the Qumran community, affirming that the work originated in certain priestly (possible Zadokite) circles, and that the scroll was hidden in the cave by priestly Zealots during their flight from Jerusalem, before its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.

The Community Rule

The Community Rule (Serekh Hayahad, 1QS), formerly called the “Manual of Discipline,” is the major section of one of the first seven scrolls discovered in Cave 1 at Qumran in 1947. Written in Hebrew in a square Hasmonean script, it was copied between 100 and 75 BCE.

In addition to this manuscript, fragments of no less than ten additional copies of the work were found in Cave 4 (4Q255-264), and two tiny fragments of another copy came to light in Cave 5 (5Q11). The copy from Cave 1 is the best preserved and contains the longest version of the text known to us. On the basis of comparison with the fragments from Cave 4, however, scholars have concluded that the manuscript from Cave 1 represents a late stage in the evolution of the composition.

The Community Rule is a sectarian work, crucial for understanding the Community’s way of life. It deals with such subjects as the admission of new members, conduct at communal meals, and even theological doctrines (such as the belief in cosmic dualism and in predestination). The picture that emerges from the scroll is one of a communal, ascetic life governed by rigorous rules, which transformed the members of the Community into “priests in spirit,” who lived sacred lives in a “spiritual temple.” The Community members patterned their daily lives in symbolic imitation of the lives of the priests serving in the Temple by praying and performing ritual ablutions, thereby acting in blatant opposition to the “defiled” physical Temple in Jerusalem.

At this time, rule literature was a new genre, which would later become part of the Christian monastic tradition (for example, the sixth-century Rule of Saint Benedict). The discovery of the Community Rule at Qumran is the earliest evidence for the existence of the genre in Western civilization. The importance of this work lies in the fact that it provides a rare opportunity to learn about the lives of the sectarians, whom we assume to be Essenes, through their own rule literature. Prior to the discovery of the scrolls, little was known about the Essenes apart from the evidence of classical sources (Flavius Josephus, Philo, and Pliny the Elder), as well as a few hints in rabbinic literature

The Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll

The Commentary on Habakkuk (Pesher Habakkuk, 1QpHab), is a relative complete scroll (1.48 m long) and one of the seven original Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in caves of Qumran in 1947. It interprets the first two chapters of the biblical book of the prophet Habakkuk and comprises 13 columns written in Hebrew, in a clear, square Herodian script. However, the tetragrammaton, the four-letter, ineffable name of God, is written in ancient Hebrew characters, unlike the rest of the text. The scroll has been dated to the second half of the first century BCE.

In this work, the verses of the biblical book are copied paragraph by paragraph, in their original order. The scriptural text of Habakkuk on which the commentary is based, however, appears to be at variance from time to time with the Masoretic text. Each paragraph is accompanied by a commentary, introduced by the Hebrew word pishro, “its meaning,” or pesher hadavar al, “the meaning of the matter is in regard to.” The commentary uses a prophetic style to address events of the author’s time.

Two major subjects are treated in this composition. One relates to the internal religious politics of Jerusalem and the Temple priesthood, and the other – to the repercussions of the appearance of the Romans (called in the work Chaldeans or Kittim) on the historical scene. As in most of works of this genre, no historical personages are mentioned by name, but there are allusions to such individuals as “the Teacher of Righteousness,” “the Wicked Priest,” “the Man of Lies,” and others, whose exact identities have yet to be established.

This exceptionally well-preserved scroll is a key source of our knowledge of the spiritual life of the secluded Qumran community. It sheds light on the community’s perception of itself and serves as paradigm against which other examples of this genre (such as Pesher Nahum or Pesher Micah) are evaluated

153 is a number in love with itself – Narcissistic number

What is a narcissistic number? It is a number that is the sum of its own digits when each digit is raised to the power of the number of digits.

There is a deep link between the symbol of Christ as the Fish/Fisherman, the Sacrifice, the Passover (153), the Covenant (612= 4 x 153), and the Net (1224 = 2 x 612) in John 21:11 that caught the 153 fish. The Number 153 is the seventeeth triangular number, hence also is the sum of the integers from 1 to 17:

(17) = 1 + 2 + … + 16 + 17 = 153

The Number 153 – I am the Lord Thy God

Isaiah 43:1-3

King James Version (KJV)

43 3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

John 21:11

King James Version (KJV)

11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

John 10

King James Version (KJV)

10 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

The Number 153

I am the Lord thy God Ani YHVH Elohikah

The Passover HaPesach

He is faithful [Num 12.7] Hua Nameen

He shall cause to inherit [Deut 1.38] yinchilena

Sons of God [Gen 6.4] Beni HaElohim

Side, Part [John 21.6] merai

The Number 153 appears explicitly in John 21.10, and implicitly in the values of the words used (side = 153, net = 1224). It has many interesting properties. For example:

153 = 1 + 2 + 3 + … + 16 + 17 = Sum(17)

153 = 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!

153 = 13 + 53 + 33

Sons of God, Trinity Function – 153

153 and Narcissistic Numbers

153, the Ark in Scripture – Pi & The English Alphabet

The Fish Created on the 5th Day

References about number 153 can be found in the New Testament, where in the net Simon Peter drew from the Sea of Tiberias held 153 fishes. Some of the interesting properties of number 153 published in [1] are:

Curious properties of number 153:

It is the smallest number which can be expressed as the sum of cubes of its digits:

153 = 13 + 53 + 33

It is equal to the sum of factorials of number from 1 to 5:

153 = 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!

The sum of digits of 153 is a perfect square:

1 + 5 + 3 = 9 = 32

The sum of aliquot divisors of 153 is also a perfect square:

1 + 3 + 9 + 17 + 51 = 81 = 92

Aliquot divisors of a number are all the divisors of that number excluding the number itself but including 1. It is seen that the sum of aliquot divisors of 153 is the square of the sum of the digits of 153.

On adding the number 153 to its reverse,504 is obtained, whose square is the smallest square which can be expressed as the product of two different non-square numbers which are reverse of one another:

153 + 351 = 504

5042 = 288 x 882

It can be expressed as the sum of all integers from 1 to 17. In other words, 153 is the 17th triangular number. Since reverse of 153, i.e. 351 is also a triangular number, 153 can be termed as a reversible triangular number.

Number 153 is also a Harshad number(also called Niven number), i.e. it is divisible by the sum of its own digits:

153 / (1 + 5 + 3) = 17

Since reverse of 153, i.e. 351 is also a Harshad number(or Niven Number), 153 can be termed as a reversible Harshad number(or reversible Niven Number).

It can be expressed as the product of two numbers formed from its own digits:

153 = 3 * 51

Note that the digits used in multipliers are same as in product.

The number 135, which is formed by rearranging the digits of 153, can be expressed as:

135 = 11 + 32 + 53

The sum of all divisors of 153 is 234.

1 + 3 + 9 + 17 + 51 + 153 = 234

The product of aliquot divisors of 153 is 23409:

1 * 3 * 9 * 17 * 51 = 23409

Note that the product of aliquot divisors of 153 contain the sum of all divisors of 153 juxtaposed:

23409 = 234:09

234 = Sum of all divisors of 153

09 = Square root of the sum of aliquot divisors of 153.

When the cubes of the digits of any number, that is, a multiple of 3 are added, and then this process is repeated, the final result is 153, where the process ends because 153 = 13 + 53 + 33

For example: Take the number 108

13 + 03 + 83 = 513 and 53 + 13 + 33 = 153

So, the number 108 reaches 153 in two cycles and it can be represented as

108®513®153

A detailed study of all numbers up to 105reveals that all numbers which are multiple of 3 and are less than 105 reach 153 (after the repeated process of summing the cubes of digits is done) in maximum 14 cycles. However, maximum 13 cycles is required for all numbers, which are multiple of 3 and are less than 10,000.

The smallest number, which requires 13 cycles to reach 153, is 177, i.e.,

177® 687® 1071®345® 216® 225® 141® 66® 432® 99® 1458® 702® 351® 153

Table 1 indicates the smallest numbers, which reach 153 in cycles from 1 to 14.

TABLE: 1

No. of cycles

Smallest number

1

135

2

18

3

3

4

9

5

12

6

33

7

114

8

78

9

126

10

6

11

117

12

669

13

177

14

12558

It may be noted that the smallest number to reach 153 in 15 cycles will be more than 1019. Can you find it?

Some New Observations on number 153:

The smallest number to reach 153 in 16 cycles will be more than 1061042524005486968, so not advisable to try it. But you can certainly try to find the smallest number reaching 153 in 15 cycles and check your answer by clicking here.

10 + 51 + 32 = 1 * 5 * 3

If p(x) represents the number of primes up to x, then the following holds good:

p (153) = p (15) * 3!

For a beautiful fascinating observation in reciprocal of 153 by Patrick De Geest, click here.

10 + 51 + 32 = 15

11 + 52 + 33 = 53

153153 is the smallest odd abundant number ending in 3.(added on 31-12-2001)

153153, 351351, 513513 are all odd abundant numbers.(added on 31-12-2001)

One of our books of sacred writings is titled The Hidden Words. It is a collection of short meditations, divided into two sections. The first section contains 71 items that were revealed in Arabic; the second section of 82 items was revealed in Persian (Farsi). I think you see my point already….. 71 + 82 = 153. I have often told my fellow believers about this connection between math and our Faith’s literature. They are always quite impressed, to say the least.(Sent by Terry Trotter by email dt 25th Dec, 2001)

Let us say 153 increasingly from left to right:

1, 15, 153

We find that 115153 is prime?(Sent by G.L.Honaker,Jr. by email dt 3rd Feb, 2002)

The square root of 153 (i.e. 12.369) is the amount of full moons in one year. (Sent by James Furia by email dt 16th June, 2009)

The length of the grand gallery inside the Great Pyramid is 153 feet. (Sent by James Furia by email dt 16th June, 2009)

Within the Great Pyramid, from the King’s Chamber floor up to the summit platform there are 153 courses of masonry (From the Pyramidology Book #1 by Adam Rutherford). (Sent by Joe Biddy by email dt 1st October, 2010)

(11 + 55 + 33) mod 1000 = 153(Sent by M Sihabudin, from Indonesia)

If you add the highest and lowest number from these six
135 + 531
153 + 513
315 + 351
you will get 666 – an important number in the book of revelation.(Sent by Bjorn Jonasson from Sweden by email dated 01 Jul 2011)

153 is the smallest number k, such k4could be split into two primes in two different ways:1534 = 547981281 and 547981281 can be split into : 5479 , 81281 and 5 , 47981281 (Sent by Claudio Meller by email dated 26 May, 2012)

Psalm 139:17-18

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Revelation 1:8

King James Version (KJV)

8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Gematria – also known by its Greek name Isopsephia – is the study of the numerical relations implicit in the Greek and Hebrew languages.

The letters of the Hebrew Alefbet have numerical values. There is a Jewish discipline known as Gematria devoted to finding hidden meanings in the numerical values of words. For example 18 is the numerical value of Chai (meaning Life) so donations to Jewish charities are routinely made in denominations of 18.

As is common knowledge amongst most scholars of the biblical languages, both Hebrew and Greek are intrinsically alphanumeric, which means that the signs used to denote letters also serve to represent numbers.

The correspondence between letter and number for the Greek alphabet is found on inscriptions as far back as the fifth century BC, and the values given in the Alphabet Table are found in many standard Greek dictionaries.

Likewise, the Hebrew alphanumeric correspondence has been discovered on coins dating from the second century BC, and to this day the chapters and verses in Hebrew Bibles are indexed primarily using letters rather than Arabic numerals. As with the Greek, these values may be found in most standard Hebrew dictionaries

Historically, some of the most profound thinkers in the Jewish and Christian communities have used this alphanumeric correlation to derive relations that appear to be nothing less than a glorious divine revelation. Yet we must understand that this.phpect of God’s Word is “strong meat” that “belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

It must never be forgotten that there are portions of the Bible “in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” Many who have lacked a proper foundation in the plain teachings of Scripture have erred greatly in their abuse of God’s numerical system to “prove” their own fallible, home-spun doctrines. Others erred simply because they lacked an understanding and appreciation of mathematical beauty and truth. Such is what fills most, though certainly not all, of the published treatises on this subject. That being said, “let us go on unto perfection” to behold the incomparable wisdom of God

Law and Number

The Exodus from Egypt, which immediately preceded the reception of God’s Law, the Torah, provides an apt example of the inherent precision of God’s works. We read:

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

Note the degree of exactitude expressed in this verse. God specified that the Exodus began after the passage of four-hundred and thirty years to the very day. Moses then led the Israelites to Mount Sinai where God made a covenant with them and gave them the Torah, his Law.

The self-descriptive property of the Hebrew alphabet manifests most elegantly in its own name, (Aleph-Beyt). This word, formed from the names of its first two letters, gives rise to the following numerical value:

Alephbet

= 400 + 10 + 2 + 80 + 30 + 1 = 523

Alpha and Omega

The only explicit references to any letters of the Greek alphabet in the surface text of Scripture are from the verses in which God declares I am Alpha and Omega.This gives rise to what is without question one of the greatest identities to emerge from the intrinsic alphanumeric structure of the Greek language. The value is: 801

Alpha + Omega

= 801

The great miracle of God is that we have this mathematically exact identity:

The Value Number of Hebrew Letters

The Hebrew counting system, each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value assigned to it. This system dates back to Temple times, when the rules for the Hebrew calendar system were established, and when our Sages used “Gematria” or Hebrew letter numerical values to glean important insights or hidden meanings in the Torah and other religious texts. Here is how it works in brief: there is no notation for “zero”; the first 10 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have the numerical values 1-10; the next nine letters are valued at 20, 30, 40, et cetera; the remaining Hebrew letters take on the values of 200, 300, and 400 – the latter assigned to tav, the last letter of the Hebrew Aleph Bet.

Hebrew Calendar Year

In Israel today, the digits we are accustomed to (1, 2, 3 … 9) are used most of the time (i.e., for counting money, age, and civil calendar dates). However Hebrew numerals are sometimes used for numbering lists (much like a, b, c, d), for copyright dates, and for the Hebrew calendar. For example, “Monday” in Modern Hebrew is Yom Sheni(literally “the Second Day”); however it is indicated on Hebrew calendars as Yom Bet, referring the numerical value of two assigned to bet, the second letter of the Hebrew Aleph Bet. Similarly, the Hebrew calendar year is indicated in Hebrew letters. Keeping in mind that the current Hebrew calendar year is 5771 and that the “5000” is generally dropped on calendars, the current year in Hebrew is tav-shin-ayin-aleph, the numerical equivalent of which is 771.

Hebrew Numbers and Gender

In Hebrew, numbers are conjugated by gender, taking on the masculine or feminine form of the object they modify.

The feminine form of the Hebrew numbers 1-10 are:achat, shtayim, shalosh, arba, chamesh, shesh, sheva, shmone, tesha, esser (Note that the number achat is always placed after the noun it qualifies and that shtayim becomes shtey before the noun it modifies)

The masculine form of the Hebrew numbers 1-10 are:echad, shnayim, shlosha, arba’a, chamisha, shisha, Shiv’a, shmona, tish’a, assara (Note that the number echad is always placed after the noun it qualifies and that shnayim becomes shney before the noun it modifies)

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”–Revelation 17:5

Where did the practices and beliefs of Roman Catholicism come from? In this scholarly classic, first published over eighty years ago, Alexander Hislop reveals that many Roman Catholic teachings did not originate with Christ or the Bible, but were adopted from ancient pagan Babylonian religion, and given Christian names.

This book accurately provides a fascinating historical in-depth examination of the shocking similarities between the practices of ancient Babylonian religion and those of today’s Roman Catholic church.

See how a religion that was started by Nimrod and his wife spread to various regions, taking on different names, but keeping the same pagan rituals and trappings. These same rituals embody the Catholic church of today.

How a Hebrew Marriage functioned from the Beginning

WEDDING FLOWERS :: LILY OF THE FIELD

In this two-part series Bill Cloud will explain and explore just what the “Restoration of all Things” entails. In the end the listener will understand that, since the expulsion of the first man, God’s plan has always intended that His sons and daughters would return to the Garden and partake of the Tree of Life.

Bill details the process of restoration-repentance, revival and finally restoration-and the ramifications of this process. You will understand more about what the end times will look like based upon how things were in the beginning. Finally this series is intended to demonstrate that God is calling His people to return to their roots; roots which happen to be buried in Israeli soil-the original Eden

It’s About Time

The fall of Kingdoms of Babylon

Obadiah 1

King James Version (KJV)

6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.

8 Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

BARBRA STREISAND – AVINU MALKEINU

Hear our prayer
We have sinned before Thee
Have compassion upon us and upon our children
Help us bring an end to pestilence, war, and famine
Cause all hate and oppression to vanish from the earth
Inscribe us for blessing in the Book Of Life
Let the new year be a good year for us

“A Prayer to Our Father” sung in Hebrew to words adapted by Nehemia Gordon & Keith Johnson.
Music composed and sung by Andrew Hodkinson.
Also known as the “LORD’s Prayer” this is a prayer for any and everyone seeking a personal relationship with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

A Prayer to Our Father is the exciting journey of faith of a Jewish Bible scholar and an African American pastor who join forces to uncover the truth about the most beloved prayer in the Christian world. Their gripping adventure begins in the ancient city of Jerusalem and takes them to the very spot in Galilee where Jesus taught the multitudes to pray. Along the way they discover a Hebrew version of the Lord’s Prayer, preserved in secret by Jewish rabbis for over a thousand years. The richness of meaning that the Hebrew unlocks reveals a powerful message of spiritual growth for Jew and Christian alike. Join them on this provocative exploration of the Hebrew origins of the Lord’s Prayer!

“The impressions are deep and stirring… It is one of the most inspiring, instructive, and spiritually important works I have read in a long time…”

It marks the point in the Exodus at which the Israelites leave Egypt and enter into their wilderness wanderings. The Israelites at first were slaves to the Egyptians and later on Moses was selected to deliver them out of slavery. The Egyptians had to suffer ten plagues before the Pharaoh freed the Israelites. After which comes the crossing of the Red Sea. Moses held out his staff and the Red sea was separated into two halves by Yahweh and the Israelites walked on dry ground and crossed the sea. Behind them came the Egyptian army and Moses moved his staff and the sea became normal and with that drowned the whole of the Egyptian army.

But Yahweh causes the pharaoh to pursue the Israelites with chariots, and he overtakes them at Pi-hahiroth. When the Israelites see the Egyptian army they are afraid, but the pillar of fire and the cloud separates the Israelites and the Egyptians. At Yahweh’s command Moses holds his staff out over the water, and throughout the night a strong east wind divides the sea,[2] and the Israelites pass through with a wall of water on either side. The Egyptians pursue, but at daybreak Yahweh clogs their chariot-wheels and throws them into a panic, and with the return of the water the pharaoh and his entire army are destroyed (see Psalm 136:15). When the Israelites see the power of Yahweh they put their faith in Yahweh and in Moses, and sing a song of praise to the Lord for the crossing of the sea and the destruction of their enemies. (This song, at Exodus 15, is called the Song of the Sea).

The narrative contains at least three and possibly four layers. In the first layer (the oldest), Yahweh blows the sea back with a strong east wind, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land; in the second, Moses stretches out his hand and the waters part in two walls; in the third, Yahweh clogs the chariot wheels of the Egyptians and they flee (in this version the Egyptians do not even enter the water); and in the fourth, the Song of the Sea, Yahweh casts the Egyptians into “tehomat”, the mythical abyss.[3]

Genesis 50:20

King James Version (KJV)

20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Genesis 45

King James Version (KJV)

45 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Shoreshim (pronounced shor-e-sheem) is Hebrew for “roots.” We have chosen this word to characterize this ministry for several reasons.

Roots give life to the tree.
Without an adequate root system to supply water and nutrients, a tree would slowly wither and die. If water is a picture of the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26), then roots are symbolic of the heart by which the life-blood of the believer is pumped throughout the Body. We feel that the times in which we live dictate that men and women must determine to learn, live and speak the truth as never before. Our very lives may one day depend upon it.

Roots are the anchor of the tree.
While the roots are not the most attractive part of the tree, they are nevertheless the most critical. As we know, truth polarizes; there is no “in-between” and, sadly, not everyone wants to hear the truth (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Yet declaring, hearing and internalizing the truth of God’s Word provides the means by which believers can mature into a tree “planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season” (Psalm 1:3). We must be rooted in the Word so that we will not be “blown about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).

If we are to be “one” we must return to the roots of our faith.
The diversity and uniqueness of the hundreds of branches that can comprise one tree only become “one” (the trunk) as they move back toward the roots of the tree. With so many versions of Christianity and the varying interpretations of Scripture muddying the theological waters, the need to return to our roots and to understand the eternal validity of God’s Torah has become obvious. This need is, in fact, evidence of the “restoration of all things” that the Scripture has predicted “since the world began” (Acts 3:21).

Bill Cloud of Shoreshim Ministries has launched an effort to re-introduce Christians to the Jewish Yeshua and to educate believers in the Hebraic roots of their faith. As a result of this information, disciples of the Messiah can more accurately interpret end-time events and better discern our role in these last days.

One of many peoples favorite past times is hiking through the peace and quiet of the wilderness. Before setting out on a hike there is one essential that no hiker should be without, a map.

The map identifies the landmarks and directions of the trail you are taking and without it one can easily become lost.

You might ask, what does hiking have to do with “the way of Yahweh?” Everything! It is the core teaching of God’s word.

We view the Bible from a western abstract perspective and view such Biblical words as law, commandments, righteousness, wickedness , judgment and repentance from an abstract point of view. But what will be presented here is a Biblical Hebraic point of view for these words which are the very same concrete concepts as taking a hike in the wilderness.

We will begin this investigation with the Hebrew word מדבר (midbar), usually translated as wilderness.

Because the Hebrew language is a root oriented system where all the words from any given root are related in meaning, it is beneficial to examine the root of any given word, as well as the other words that are derived from that root. In the case of the word midbar, the root is the three letters dalet-beyt-resh, davar, a Hebrew root meaning word. At first glance, their does not seem to be any connection between midbar meaning wilderness and DBR meaning word, that is until we dig a little deeper.

All three letter Hebrew roots, such as DBR, are themselves derived out of a two letter root or parent root. The parent root of DBR is the letters dalet and resh, DR, meaning a circle which is a symbol of order (it is interesting that our word order includes this ancient parent root). From DR come several three letter roots, each having to do with order.
GDR – To encircle or enclose to keep order
SDR – To set in order
AhDR – To arrange in order
DBR – To combine in order

Several words are derived out of the root DBR, each having to do with a combined order.
DaBaR – as a noun it means word, which when combined in order with other words, sentences are formed.
DaBaR – as a verb it means speech, a combination of words.
DeBoRah – is a bee, a colony of combined insects living in perfect harmony/order.
miDBaR – a place of harmony/order, the wilderness.

To see the Hebraic understanding of the wilderness as a place of harmony, we can contrast it with its understanding of a city, which in Hebrew is עיר (iyr). This word is derived out of the parent root ער (ar), meaning “enemy” and from this parent root is derived other words, each conveying the idea of chaos, the opposite of order.
Or – Blind
Ya’ar – Forest, a dark place
Sa’iyr – Goat, from its black hair
Erev – Evening, from its darkness

Anyone who has hiked in the wilderness has experienced its harmony and anyone who has walked the busy streets of a city has experienced its chaos.

As a people who live in the wilderness, the Hebrews are, by necessity, a nomadic people. A nomad survives on his livestock, usually sheep and goats, which supply him with hair and hide for his clothing and tents and meat and milk for his food. To sustain his livestock, and in turn himself, he must migrate from pasture to pasture.

This nomadic lifestyle is the foundation to the entire Hebrew language. Almost every word in the Hebrew language is rooted in this nomadic culture and without understanding the culture properly, misinterpretation and misunderstandings of the text are the result.

Proper Biblical Interpretation through the study of the Ancient Hebrew alphabet, language, culture and the Bible. This video discusses the relationship between the Hebrew words of the Bible and the Ancient Hebrew culture.

An astonishing realization has recently gripped the Christian world: “Jesus Christ” was not a blond-haired, blue-eyed Gentile. Yeshua of Nazareth was raised in an observant Jewish family in a culture where the Torah (five books of Moses) was the National Constitution. Yeshua’s teachings, which supposedly form the basis for Western Christianity, are now filtered through 2000 years of traditions born in ignorance of the land, language, and culture of the Bible.

The issues over which Yeshua wrestled with the Pharisees are simply not understood by modern Christians; nor are his most important instructions followed by those who claim to be his disciples. Former Pharisee, Nehemia Gordon, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and Semitic language expert, explores the ancient Hebrew text of the Gospel of Matthew from manuscripts long hidden away in the archives of Jewish scribes. Gordon’s research reveals that the more “modern” Greek text of Matthew, from which the Western world’s versions were translated, depicts “another Jesus” from the Yeshua portrayed in the ancient Hebrew version of Matthew. Gordon explains the life-and-death conflict Yeshua had with the Pharisees as they schemed to grab the reins of Judaism in the first century, and brings that conflict into perspective for both Jew and Christian alike.